Got an interesting email this morning from an industry insider friend of mine. Now he’s the first to admit that this should be taken as rumor, so let me echo that sentiment: TAKE THIS AS RUMOR. OK then, let’s get on with it…

Our insider emailed me saying that Emily Blunt has recently turned down the female lead in CAPTAIN AMERICA (HERE is the full story, FYI).

Frankly, I didn’t even know that she was up for a part in the film. But that wasn’t the main reason he wrote in, alright. No, he thinks that this story may have some BATMAN 3 influence to it.

See where this is going?

This dude (who’s pretty damned tuned into the Hollywood grapevine) speculates that one of the reasons Ms. Blunt turned down the role is because she may have her eye set on playing Selina Kyle in BATMAN 3...if Chris Nolan uses the character, of course.

He reminded me that the English actress was "allegedly" up for part of Rachel Dawes in THE DARK KNIGHT after Katie Holmes was invited to leave...sorry...had a (*ahem*) “scheduling problem” and couldn’t reprise her BATMAN BEGINS role. Of course, Maggie Gyllenhaal eventually nabbed the part and was blown to bits by The Joker in TDK.

Look, I have no idea if Chris is going to include Catwoman -- or simply Selina Kyle for that matter -- in B3. But if he does and did cast Ms. Blunt, I’d certainly be down with it. She’s a fine actress, no doubt. And if you’re going to do a “comic book movie,” wouldn’t you want to work on a Chris Nolan-directed BATMAN film?

If she took this part in CAPTAIN AMERICA, there’s no way she could do BATMAN 3. Not only due to the Marvel/DC rivalry thing, but also because there’d have to be some scheduling conflict -- despite the fact that the films will be released a year apart. Even if she could squeeze both of them in, I don’t think she’d do two major comic book films back-to-back. Frankly, I’d choose Batman over Capt. America too as the Bat-Franchise it THE top dog of the genre.

Hmmm...

If she did turn down CA for Catwoman and B3, then that would mean that the character IS in the film and Nolan and co. are already reaching out to the folks they’d like to be part of the cast, right?

Nope…I’m NOT going to do it. This is the sort of stuff that will make one’s head explode! At any rate...

I figure we’re going to start getting some legit casting news no later than this coming Fall. Whatever characters are ultimately going to be in BATMAN 3, it’s going to be very interesting -- and fun -- to see all of this play out.

So...what do y'all think? Could Emily Blunt have her eye on a role in BATMAN 3? And if it is Catwoman, would she make a good one?